Materials science is the complex interdisciplinary field associated with the discovery, manufacture, and application of novel material arrangements. It is fundamentally concerned with understanding the physiochemical structure of a liquid, solid, or amorphous material, as well as its properties, performance, and processing capabilities. These overarching principles are known as material characterization.
Material characterization has been carried out using a range of established methods. These techniques fall roughly into one of two categories: invasive or non-invasive material characterization. Each one has benefits and drawbacks for assessing the performance of materials under thermodynamic stress or at rest.
One of the major challenges of invasive characterization techniques is the avoidance of denaturation of complex formulations during the experiment. Nowadays, many industrial materials consist of multiple compounds (fillers, binders, thickeners, particulates, droplets, solvents, polymers, etc.) which all are in equilibrium. These interactions may be altered by invasive techniques. These are appropriated only if they enable to mimic or reproduction of processing conditions of a product during manufacturing, storage, or use conditions. On the other hand, non-invasive techniques are suitable for studying very sensitive materials or analyzing materials at rest to mimic storage conditions.
Innovative material characterization is focused on revolutionizing the status quo in materials science, with novel probing and testing methodologies that enable non-invasive assessment of the physical stability of dispersions at rest.
The Turbiscan is used to gather quantitative data on the physical stability of liquid dispersions (emulsions, suspensions, and foams) with regards to their agglomerating/aggregating behavior, as well as phase separation such as sedimentation or creaming. It boasts a rapid scan frequency with static multiple light scattering (SMLS) technology that works up to 1,000 times faster than visual bottle tests. Turbiscan is widely used in many industries that need to control the stability of their formulations such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, foods, and many other products.
Microtrac is dedicated to disruptive innovation within the analytical science sector, providing unique solutions for measuring the stability, particle size, and phase transitions of complex dispersions. The Turbiscan instruments have been installed in more than 2,000 research and development facilities worldwide.
Materials characterization must be carried out with unique considerations for the characteristics of distinct materials. If you would like to perform sensitive and high-precision measurements of difficult solutions, we can provide instruments to suit your requirements. Please contact us for any more details.
Ultimately, the choice of whether to use a simple sieving solution or to invest in Laser Diffraction or Dynamic Image Analysis will depend on the volume of testing, the budgets and staffing available and any specific international standards or customer requirements that you face.
Why not contact Microtrac for a free consultation to find out which solution will deliver the outcome and the Return on Investment you need?